NEW POLITICAL SHOW IN AZERBAIJAN
By Ivan Gharibyan
news.am
Nov 2 2009
Armenia
A new political show, "local elections", is being put on in
Azerbaijan. The election campaign is to reach its culmination on the
New Year eve. So Ilham Aliyev, the son of "the national leader Heydar
Aliyev" will have something to celebrate. It is the right moment,
as Azerbaijan has lately been "unlucky" in the international arena:
it has even come to controversies with the "big brother", Turkey.
Now it is an excellent opportunity to show the triumph of Azerbaijani
democracy, and the ones that will take notice of the event throughout
the world will laugh heartily. This can be the only reaction to the
reports like "A concert on the occasion of the end of the elections
in the Khachmass region began at 7:00 p.m." or "More than 93% turnout
in Nakhichevan."
The ruling party New Azerbaijan has a lot of work to do. Although the
present number of municipalities is 1,764 against the previous 2,757,
the ruling partocrats have to "spare no effort." The supporters
of the Aliyev clan have to nominate one candidate in most of the
municipalities, form a bloc with unaffiliated people (10-15 per cent
of posts intended for them) and, for show, let the Opposition to have
some seats.
Active work is in progress. Azeri mass media report that over 1,000
candidates of the New Azerbaijan Party have submitted subscription
lists and got registered at election commissions. As regards the
Opposition, which is in information blockade, it has nothing to do
but put up with its role of an "appendage".
The greatest achievement of modern-day Azeri democracy is
closely following the principle of appointing the head of the Baku
administration. Mayor of Baku is appointed by the President himself,
and no one is going to grant the Baku residents the right to elect
their Mayor.
Of course, with the present alignment of political forces, or rather a
complete lack of any alternative to the Aliyev clan, a ruling party
member would in any case fill the post. With this power system,
however, the Azerbaijani President should not, time and again, claim
his country to be "matchless" in the region. It is really so, though.
Neither Armenian nor Georgian TV viewers will ever see the picture
of the ex-president and "national leader" appear in the upper corner
of the screen every holiday.